toast to new beginnings
by jellybean96
Summary: Two significant New Year's celebrations in the life of Lucaya


**Hey babes! Happy New Year! It is officially 2019! Wow. Crazy.**

 **And since it's the new year, I thought I'd post a little New Year's fic for you, one that just so happens to be Lucaya. I've had this idea in my head for a while, and have actually had it written for a little while as well, but I wanted to wait until the new year to post it because I thought it'd be perfect.**

 **Enjoy!**

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Making her way up onto the roof to join the rest of her classmates for the celebration, she immediately locates her favorite blonde-haired cowboy casually standing near the edge, his hands in his pockets as he stares up at the night sky. She approaches as normally as possible, every nerve ending in her body on high alert as she gets closer to him.

"This spot taken?" she asks softly, getting his attention.

He turns toward her and smiles. "I was saving it."

"For who?"

He lets out a breathy laugh with a small shake of his head. "I don't know anymore."

She wipes her palms against the fabric of her jeans, before rubbing them together nervously, but probably to get them warm again too. "Hey, Lucas?"

"Yeah?"

She hesitates. "Have I ever said anything nice to you?"

He shakes his head but gives her a small smile. "No."

She smiles back at him, shifting on her feet to face him more. "Well, it's one minute to midnight, and I'm glad you're standing here."

He smiles at her again. "Wow. That kind of makes up for everything."

Silence encompasses them as the final seconds of the current year continue to tick down, the quiet chatter from their friends and the eager celebrators on the street below filling their ears.

Watching how beautifully his face is illuminated in the pale light of the moon in the sky, she shifts on her feet, taking a small step closer in his direction. It's now or never. She has to take a chance, just so she can say that she did.

Seconds later, cheers and shouts of excitement ring throughout the city from every direction, signaling the start of the new year.

Surging up on her toes before she loses her nerve and her confidence, she catches him by surprise with her lips against his, grabbing the lapels of his jacket to pull him down closer to her. She's vaguely aware of Farkle's voice announcing something to the group but doesn't pay much attention to anything other than the way she's feeling. She doesn't worry about all the eyes that are probably on them.

Not feeling him reciprocate, she panics and goes to pull away when two large hands land on her waist and his lips are moving against hers. It's clumsy and a little awkward, as most first kisses are, but she doesn't care about that. All she cares about is that she's actually kissing him.

Needing to breathe again, she pulls away from him and smirks a little when his lips trail after hers. Her grip on his jacket loosens and she stumbles back, forcing his hands to slip away from her.

"What was that?" he asks breathlessly, his eyes still closed.

"It's called a kiss, Huckleberry."

He smiles and laughs quietly. "No, I know that. I just don't know why you kissed me."

"Isn't there some kind of dumb tradition to kiss someone at midnight on New Years?"

He nods. "I think so. But that was hardly just a simple midnight kiss. That was...something else entirely."

She shrugs, trying to downplay the significance to her. "It was just a kiss."

He shakes his head, taking a small step closer to her. "No, Maya, that wasn't just a kiss. Don't hide from me."

"I'm not hiding from you."

"So tell me the real reason you kissed me."

Her breath catches and she swallows thickly. "I already told you."

"I want the truth, Maya."

She looks up at him through her lashes, her mind flashing back to that campfire that seems so long ago now. "I kissed you because I like you, Hee Haw."

He smiles and stoops down to look in her eyes. "That's all I wanted to hear, Shortstack."

She punches him in the shoulder at the nickname, not hard enough to do any real damage but enough to make him stumble.

He chuckles as he clutches at his shoulder. "No use in masking real feelings with violence now, Maya." He steps closer to her and brushes some of her hair behind her ear and then cups her cheek in his hand. "I know the truth. We like each other, so let's stop fighting that and act on it instead."

"You really want to date me, Ranger Rick?" she asks with a small smile.

He nods and lets out a breathy laugh. "I really do."

"We tried that once and it didn't work out too well."

"It didn't work because we weren't being ourselves. But I think this time we might just be able to get it right."

"I don't know how to do this," she tells him honestly, gesturing between the two of them. "I've never done the whole relationship thing before so I'm a little lost on what happens now."

"That's okay. We'll figure it out together."

Her smile falters. "What about Riley?"

"What about her?"

"I know she said she doesn't like you anymore, that she only thinks of you as a brother, but I don't think that's actually the case. What if she's hurt because of this?"

"She'll get through it eventually. You're a good friend, Maya, that's one of the things I like about you. But it's time to start thinking about your own happiness for once. What do you want, Maya?"

She bites her lip between her teeth again, watching his eyes as he watches her.

A smile growing on her lips, she rises on her toes, gently sliding her lips over his, grabbing at the torso of his jacket this time to pull him close. This kiss is less clumsy, but not yet perfect, they're still trying to find their rhythm.

"I like where this is headed."

Breaking from the kiss, Maya looks to the side to find all their classmates watching them with wide eyes and some of them with smiles.

She doesn't know who made the remark, probably one of their classmates who always sits in the back of the room and is weirdly obsessed with them.

Her eyes quickly scan over the area, trying to find Riley, eager to know the other girl's reaction. She doesn't find the chipper brunette or even their quirky friend.

She sighs, her shoulders slumping and a frown forming on her face. "They left. Riley and Farkle left. I knew she wouldn't be okay with this. And Farkle probably went after her to comfort her. This was a mistake. We shouldn't do this."

"Maya, I meant what I said." He gently turns her head back toward him and looks directly into her eyes as he speaks. "You shouldn't let your happiness always be pushed to the side for the sake of Riley's feelings. It's time for you to go after what you want."

She smiles up at him and nods. "You're right. It is time for me to go after what I want."

He smiles back and takes a small step toward her. "And what do you want?"

She bites her bottom lip between her teeth before rising on her toes to kiss him slowly. She smiles against his lips, moving closer to him and wrapping her arms around his torso.

Pulling back ever so slightly, she tilts her head back to look at him. "I want this."

.

.

.

Shifting nervously on his feet, he stuffs his hands into the pockets of his jeans, breathing in deeply and letting his body relax. He leans against the ledge of the roof, looking out over the city and the people roaming the streets down below to celebrate the coming new year.

"Coffee?"

He turns and smiles at her, accepting one of the steaming mugs of coffee she holds out to him. "Thanks."

"No problem. So what are you doing up here?" she asks him, instinctively leaning into his side when he wraps an arm around her shoulders.

"Just thinking."

"About what?"

"The New Year. This is going to be a pretty big one for us."

"It is?"

"Ten years ago we got together in this very spot."

Her face scrunches up. "Has it really been that long? I think I've gotten so used to you being such a Huckleberry all the time that I've grown numb to it and the moments just blur together."

He laughs quietly and pulls her closer, dropping a kiss to the top of her head.

"Do you want to go back inside?" she asks him after a quiet moment.

He shakes his head. "Not yet. I'm good right here."

"I'm cold."

"Well, we can't have that." He sets his cup of coffee on the ledge and then turns to face his girlfriend completely, wrapping both arms around her to engulf her. "Better?"

"A little," she responds, snaking her own arms around his waist under his jacket.

"I love you so much, Maya," he mumbles into her hair.

"I love you too," she responds, her voice muffled by his clothes.

They spend the next few minutes in a comfortable silence, the only noises coming from the streets below and the families inside the building they're standing on top of.

Loud cheers pull them out of their own little world, signaling them to the start of the New Year.

Pulling back, Lucas smiles when Maya rises on her toes and gives him a quick kiss. "Happy New Year, Lucas."

"Happy New Year, Maya." He shifts on his feet again and he knows she notices the spike in his heart rate because of how close she's standing and how nervous he is.

Her brows furrow. "Hey, you okay? Don't go passing out on me or anything. I can't carry you if you do that."

"No, I'm not going to pass out. I just…" He pauses and takes a deep breath before stepping back and sliding his hands down her arms to grab her hands in his. "I love you, Maya."

She snorts. "I love you too, Huckleberry. Didn't we already do that part?"

"Hey, can you be serious for a second, please?"

She nods. "Yeah, sorry."

"Thanks." He breathes in deeply again. "Ten years ago in this very spot, we gave into our feelings for each other and that started what has been the best decade of my life. I fell in love with you pretty quickly, and I keep falling in love every day that I get to spend with you. And I'm really hoping that we can have another amazing milestone in this spot that will make me fall so much more in love with you than I already am."

Reaching into his pocket, he pulls out a small, velvet box and lowers himself onto one knee, still holding tightly to one of Maya's hands.

"Lucas...what are you…"

He smiles brightly up at his girlfriend. "Will you marry me?"

"You really are pretty dumb for a Huckleberry."

His smile falters. "What?"

She smiles wide. "You were worried that I wouldn't say yes."

"So that's a yes?"

She nods as she laughs. "Of course it's a yes."

He beams, sliding the ring onto her left hand before standing up and framing her face in his hands to pull her into a searing kiss, holding her as close as he possibly can.

Breaking out of the kiss, he runs a hand down her arm and grabs her left hand in his, holding it up to press a kiss to her knuckle right above her newest piece of jewelry. "I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you, Maya."

"As if you needed a ring like this to keep me around. You knew you wouldn't be able to get rid of me since you walked into Cory's classroom."

He laughs quietly. "That is actually very true. I knew you'd be very important to me. And now I'm going to be able to call you my wife."

"Slow your roll a bit there, Hopalong. We haven't said any vows yet. All you've done is put this ring on my finger. A very, very nice ring, by the way." She takes a moment to admire the jewelry. "I'm surprised that you have such excellent taste."

"I decided to date you, didn't I?"

She smiles and nods, wrapping her arms up around his neck. "That you did."

"Whoa. Is that what I think it is? Is my dream finally coming true?"

Turning away from each other, they both laugh at the sight of Zay standing near the roof entrance, a wide grin on his face as the rest of their friends start to join him.

"What are you guys doing up here?" Maya asks.

"After the clock struck midnight we wanted to celebrate together but we couldn't find you," Farkle tells them. "Riley suggested we come up to the roof."

"You came up here to bring him coffee," Riley pipes in. "But you two never came back down."

"We were reminiscing of when we got together in this exact spot ten years ago," Lucas tells them all, a small smile on his face.

"Doesn't look like that's all you were doing up here," Zay says with a wide smile. "Did you really go through with it?" he asks, looking right at Lucas.

Lucas chuckles and nods. "Yeah, man."

"What did he go through with?" Riley asks, looking frantically between everyone. "What's going on? What don't I know?"

Maya grins and holds her left hand up for the group to see. "Lucas and I are getting married."

"Peaches!" Riley squeals and rushes forward to pull her best friend into a tight hug.

Lucas stands back and watches as the two friends celebrate the engagement before receiving his own influx of congratulations from all of their friends.

After everyone's made the rounds, Maya and Lucas end up back with each other, their arms around one another and happy smiles on both their faces.

"You know, I'm really glad you're in my life, Huckleberry."

He smiles down at her, pressing a kiss to her temple and pulling her close. "Me too, Shortstack."

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 **So? What did you think? Let me know in a review down below. I'd love to hear your thoughts.**

 **I'm thinking about doing more of these types of stories, of rewriting certain moments from the show to where Lucaya actually gets together. Should I do that? Would you guys want to read that if I did?**

 **Until next time,  
Jellybean96 out!**


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